nancylee Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Hi all, I am looking to make some smaller things for the holidays and buttons. How do you get raised images on your buttons? I am thinking of face buttons, or animals, etc, raised on the surface. I know how to carve into the clay, but buttons and earrings are so small, are molds used? And if so, where might one buy molds for pottery, or where would I learn to make molds. I am NOT a good draftsman, have trouble drawing realistically. Thanks, Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Nancy, You could use bisque molds. Carve a negative and bisque it OR make a positive, bisque it then, press clay around it and bisque that. You would probably get around 5% shrinkage each time. Clay press molds have been used for 1000s of years. If you want a nice clean mold you could make the positives out of an oil based clay, cast that in plaster. Then you could press mold with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancylee Posted August 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Nancy, You could use bisque molds. Carve a negative and bisque it OR make a positive, bisque it then, press clay around it and bisque that. You would probably get around 5% shrinkage each time. Clay press molds have been used for 1000s of years. If you want a nice clean mold you could make the positives out of an oil based clay, cast that in plaster. Then you could press mold with that. Hi Marcia, Thank you! I have never even heard of a oil based clay!! I found some molds, silicon ones, can they be used with the clay we use? Most say polymer clay. Thanks again, Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Campbell Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 If all you want to do is press a bit of clay into a mold to get a design, you can use just about any kind of mold ... I would recommend searching your local crafts store ... Like a Michael's ... see what they have in the clay, cake, candy, scrap booking, woodworking areas. Just press the clay in and use another piece of clay to pull it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave the potter Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Having a spray can of PAM around is a good idea. Items that do not release easily, whether positives you are using to make molds or molds for other materials i.e. polymer clay, will work just fine after a light spray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJR Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 You can use plastecine, which is an oil based clay. Make your small buttons and then make a plaster mold of a group of them. TJR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasoned Warrior Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Hi all, I am looking to make some smaller things for the holidays and buttons. How do you get raised images on your buttons? I am thinking of face buttons, or animals, etc, raised on the surface. I know how to carve into the clay, but buttons and earrings are so small, are molds used? And if so, where might one buy molds for pottery, or where would I learn to make molds. I am NOT a good draftsman, have trouble drawing realistically. Thanks, Nancy Marcia's recommendations are spot on as usual. Oil clay is modelling clay which many potters refer to using a trademarked name such as Plasticine. Bisque molds if you are not familiar with making plaster molds are quite easy just press what yo want into a piece of clay, bisque it and voila! (a tip of the hat to Marcia's upcoming residence) you have a negative cavity that will produce many copies by pressing balls of clay into the cavities. One of the ways to get good impressions and constant density is to make a wooden press kind of like a tortilla press. Make little balls of clay and press them into either your bisque or plaster molds. Just make a little channel around the cavity for excess clay to extrude into. You can make an incredible variety and quantity of tiny items with this very simple setup. Regards, Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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